Cam grinding apparatus



Sept. 8, 1936. c. G. FLYGARE CAM GRINDING APPARATUS Filed Jui 25, 1935- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESS Sept: 8, 1936. c. G/FLYGARE CAM GRINDING APPARVA'IIUS Filed Jul 2:5," 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 CARI. G. FLYGARE WITNESS v WW w Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES CAM GRINDING APPARATUS Carl G. Flygare, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Norton Company, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 23, 1935, Serial No. 32,704

11 Claims.

This invention relates to grin-ding machines, and more particularly to a readily removable master camshaft assembly for a cam grinding machine.

Heretofore, it has been common practice to grind a camshaft having a plurality of cams formed integrally therewith by mounting the camshaft to be ground on a rock bar which is rocked toward and from the periphery of a grinding wheel by means of a plurality of master cams and a cooperating master cam roller to cause the camshaft to rock so as to produce a predetermined contour on the cam blank being ground. In the previous constructions, the rock bar has been formed with integral heads to form a sup- 15 port for the rotatable master camshaft. Such a construction is suited only for grinding a single camshaft where the entire productive time of the machine may be used for grinding a large number of the same camshafts. In previous cam 20 grinding machines, it has been necessary to make substantial alterations in the machine in order to set up the machine for grinding a different camshaft.

In some automobile factories where various sizes of gasoline motors are manufactured for automobiles and the like, there is not a sufficient quantity of camshafts to be ground to keep an individual cam grin-ding machine busy in grinding a single type of camshaft. It is, therefore, desirable to provide a cam grinding machine which may be readily set up for grinding a camshaft and in which the set-up may be readily changed for grin-ding a second and different camshaft so that the loss of time in changing over 35 from one set-up to the other is reduced to a minimum.

It is one object of this invention to provide a camshaft grinding machine which may be readily set up for grinding difierent camshafts.

It is another object of this invention to provide a camshaft grinding machine in which the master cams may be readily interchanged.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a camshaft grinding apparatus in which the master camshaft and master cams may be inserted or removed therefrom.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an integral master cam assembly which may be readily located in operating position and readily remove-d therefrom and interchanged for another similar master cam assembly.

7 It is a further object of this invention to provide a cam grinding apparatus with a unitary readily removable. master cam assembly which may be readily located in a predetermined position on a camshaft supporting rock bar. Other objects will be apparent from the following disclosure.

One embodiment of this invention has been illustrate-d in the drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate like parts:

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective View of a cam grinding machine embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end elevation of a camshaft grinding apparatus embodying this invention, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal rear elevation, on a reduced scale, of the rock bar and master cam assembly.

This invention consists broadly in providing a camshaft grinding machine in which the machine may be readily set up for grinding different camshafts. The machine is so arranged that the master camshaft and set of master cams may be readily interchanged. The master cams are r0- tatably supported on a unitary readily inter- 2O changeable master cam assembly which may be located and clamped in a predetermined operating position on the machine.

A cam grinding machine has been illustrated in the drawings including a base H] which supports a longitudinally movable work table II on a flat way l2 and a V-way IS. A grinding wheel I4 is rotatably supported on a transversely movable wheel slide I5. The slide to is provided with a depending nut I6 meshing with a feed screw I1 which serves to cause a transverse movement of the grinding wheel I4 relative to the table I I. The wheel feeding mechanism is not considered a part ofthe present invention and consequently has not been illustrated in detail. This mechanism may be of any of the standard well-known grinding wheelfeeding mechanisms, such as, for example, that shown in the prior patent to Trefethen et al. No. 1,783,755 dated December 2, 1930, to which reference may be had for a detailed disclosure of the wheel feeding mechanism.

A rock bar 20 is pivotally supported on table I I by means of bearing brackets 2i and 22. The rock bar 20 is arranged to be rocked relative to the periphery of the grinding wheel by means of a plurality of master cams 23 cooperating with a master cam follower roller 24 which is rotatably supported by brackets 25 on a rotatable shaft 26. The master cam follower roller 24 may be shifted longitudinally to position it into operative relation with the plurality of master cams 23, either manually or by means of a suitable index mechanism, such as that shown in the 55 prior patent to Trefethen, et al. above referred to. An indexing mechanism of the Trefethen type has been illustrated comprising a yoke 30 which is fixedly mounted to the end of a rack bar 3|. The yoke 30 straddles the roller 24 and is arranged to move the roller 24 axially when the rack bar 3| is moved longitudinally. The rack bar 3| is moved longitudinally by means of a gear 32 which is mounted on a shaft 33 carried by a gear 34 meshing with a gear 35. Gear 35 meshes with a gear 36 rotatably mounted on a stud 31. The gear 36 is connected and arranged to rotate with a star wheel 38. The star wheel 38 is arranged to be engaged by dogs 39 mounted on a dog bar 40 which is fixedly supported on the base of the machine by means of a bracket 4|. For further details of such an indexing mechanism, reference may be had to the prior patent to Trefethen. It is readily apparent from the disclosure that when the work table II is moved longitudinally, the star wheel 38 engaging dogs 39 on dog bar 40 causes a rotation of star wheel 38 and through the gear 35, the gear 35, the gear 34, the gear 32, rack 3| and yoke 30 causes a longitudinal indexing of the master cam roller 24.

The rock bar 20 is arranged to be rocked to and from an operating position by means of a fluid pressure mechanism including a cylinder 50 and a piston (not shown) which is connected by a piston rod 5|, through a pin 52, to a bracket 53 fixed on the rock bar 20. This mechanism is not considered a part of the present invention so that the details have not been shown. For a detailed disclosure, reference may be had to the above-mentioned prior patent to Trefethen.

In order to attain the main object of this invention, a suitable readily removable master cam assembly is provided which enables setting up of the machines for grinding various camshafts without an unnecessary loss of time during the set-up. As illustrated in the drawings, such a master cam assembly may comprise a frame 60 having integral bearing members 6| and 62 which serve to rotatably support a master camshaft 63. The frame 68 is arranged to be readily mounted on the rock bar 20 and readily removed therefrom. The rock bar 20 is preferably provided with a slideway, such as a dovetailed way 65 which mates with a correspondingly shaped dovetailed way 66 formed on the under surface of the frame 60. The dovetailed slide 65 only extends along a left-hand end portion (Fig. 1) of the rock bar 20 so that the master cam assembly carried by frame 60 may be readily removed from the rock bar by sliding it in an endwise direction toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 1.

The frame 68 may be clamped in a predetermined operating position on the rock bar 20 by means of a clamping bar or gib 10, the lower part ll of which mates with and engages a portion 12 of the dovetailed slideway 65 and the upper part 13 of which engages the notch 14 on the frame 60. The gib 18 is clamped in position by means of a plurality of clamping screws 15 which pass through holes 16 in the clamping bar or gib l0 and are screw threaded into the frame 60. A nut 11 is mounted on each screw 15 and serves to clamp the gib 10 so as to lock the master cam assembly frame 6|! in a predetermined operating position on the bar 20.

It is desirable to provide a suitable locating means so that the frame 60 or successive frames corresponding to frame 60 may be located in a predetermined position on the rock bar 20. The

master cam assembly frame 60 is preferably provided with a locating lug which is arranged to abut against a stop pin 8| fixedly mounted on the rock bar 20.

A camshaft to be ground is mounted in the usual manner and is rotatably supported on a center 88 on the left-hand end of master camshaft 63 (Fig. 3) and has its other end supported on a footstock center 81 which is mounted on an adjustable footstock 88. The footstock 88 is provided with a dovetailed slideway 89 which mates with a slideway 90 formed on the rock bar 20 so that the footstock may be adjusted longitudinally relative to the rock bar 20 to accommodate various lengths of camshafts. The camshaft 85, to be ground, is rotated in unison with the master camshaft 63 by means of a driving pin 92 supported on a driving head 9| which is carried by the master camshaft 63.

A tapered portion 95 is provided on the righthand end of the master cam spindle 63 (Fig. 3) and is arranged to be detachably connected to a flexible driving coupling in the manner shown in the above-mentioned prior patent to Tref-ethen.

In order to change the master cam assembly in setting up the machine for grinding a different shaft, the operator first disconnects the driving coupling from the end 95 of the master camshaft 63 and then loosens the clamping nuts TI on frame 60 and slides the master cam assembly frame 69 carrying the entire assembly of master cams longitudinally relative to the rock bar 20 to disengage the slideway 56 from the slide 65 and thereby removes the entire assembly from the machine. A similar master cam assembly frame 60 with another set of master cams 23 shaped and timed for a different camshaft to be ground may then be readily slid into place on slideway 65, clamped thereon, and the tapered driving end 95 locked in driving relation with the master camshaft rotating mechanism.

It will be readily apparent from the foregoing disclosure that a unitary master camshaft assembly is provided which may be readily located on or removed from an operating position on the rock bar 20 and may be replaced with a similar unitary assembly for grinding a different camshaft without the necessity of rebuilding or refitting the various parts of the machine.

The operation of this mechanism is readily apparent from the foregoing disclosure. The desired master camshaft assembly for grinding the particular camshaft to be ground is picked out and the frame 60 is slid into operating position with the slideway 66 engaging the mating slide G5 on rock bar 20 and moved toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 3, until the lug 80 engages stop pin 8|. The slide 60 is locked in an operating position by means of the clamping nuts ll.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cam grinding machine of the kind described, a longitudinally movable work table, a transversely movable grinding wheel slide, a rotatable grinding wheel on said slide, a rock bar pivotally mounted on said table, a rotatable camshaft support on said bar, a master cam roller rotatably and slidably supported on said table, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame arranged to be attached in a predetermined position on said rock bar, a rotatable master camshaft on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon, and means including a clamping and locating device to removably secure the frame on said bar.

2. A cam grinding machine of the kind described, a longitudinally movable work table, a transversely movable wheel slide, a rotatable grinding wheel on said slide, a rock bar pivotally mounted on said table, a master cam follower roller rotatably and slidably mounted on said table, a footstock including a center adjustably mounted on said bar to support one end of a camshaft to be ground, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master camshaft rotatably supported on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon and means to removably secure said frame in a predetermined position on said bar.

3. A cam grinding machine of the kind described, a longitudinally movable work table, a transversely movable {grinding wheel slide, a. rotatable grinding wheel on said slide, a rock bar pivotally mounted on said table, a rotatable camshaft support on said bar, a master cam roller rotatably and slidably supported on said table, a slideway formed on said bar, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a rotatable master camshaft on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon arranged to cooperate with said master cam roller -to rock said bar to produce a predetermined contour on the cams being ground, and Ways on said frame mating with the slideway on said bar to locate the frame in a predetermined position on the rock bar.

4. A cam grinding machine of the kind described, a longitudinally movable work table, a transversely movable wheel slide, a rotatable grinding wheel on said slide, a rock bar pivotally mounted on said table, a master cam follower roller rotatably and slidably mounted on said table, a footstock including a center adjustably mounted on said bar to support one end of a camshaft to be ground, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master cam rotatably supported on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon, means to removably secure said frame in a predetermined position on said bar, and a camshaft supporting head on said spindle arranged to support the other end of a camshaft and rotate the same in unison with said master camshaft.

5. A cam grinding machine of the kind described, a longitudinally movable work table, a transversely movable wheel slide, a rotatable grinding Wheel on said slide, a rock bar pivotally mounted on said table, a master cam follower roller rotatably and slidably mounted on said table, a footstock including a center adjustably mounted on said bar to support one end of the camshaft to be ground, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master camshaft rotatably supported on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon, and a clamping device arranged to removably secure the frame in a predetermined position on said bar.

6. A cam grinding machine of the kind described, a longitudinally movable Work table, a transversely movable wheel slide, a rotatable grinding wheel on said slide, a rock bar pivotally mounted on said table, a master cam follower roller rotatably and slidably mounted on said table, a footstock including a center adjustably mounted on said bar to support one end of the camshaft to be ground, a slideway on said bar and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master camshaft rotatably supported on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon, ways on said frame mating with said slideway, and a clamping means to removably secure the frame in a predetermined position on said bar.

7. A cam grinding machine of the kind described, a longitudinally movable work table, a transversely movable wheel slide, a rotatable grinding wheel on said slide, a rock bar pivotally mounted on said table, a master cam follower roller rotatably and slidably mounted on said table, a footstock including a center adjustably mounted on said bar to support one end of the camshaft to be ground, .a slideway on said bar and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master camshaft rotatably supported on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon, ways on said frame mating with said slideway, means to locate said frame in a predetermined position on said bar, a clamping means to removably secure the frame in said predetermined position.

8. A cam grinding apparatus of the kind described, a pivotally mounted rock bar, a rotatable camshaft support on said bar, a rotatable master cam follower roller, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a rotatable master camshaft on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon, means to align said frame on the bar, and clamping means toremovably locate said frame in a predetermined operating position on said bar.

9. A cam grinding apparatus of the kind described, a pivotally mounted rock bar, a rotatable camshaft support on said bar, a rotatable master cam follower, a slideway on said rock bar, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master camshaft rotatably mounted on said frame having a plurality of master cams thereon, and a slideway on said frame mating with said slideway on the bar to removably locate the frame in a predetermined position.

10. A cam grinding apparatus of the kind described, a pivotally mounted rock bar, a rotatable camshaft support on said bar, a rotatable master cam follower, a slideway onsaid rock bar, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master camshaft rotatably mounted on said frame having a plurality of cams thereon, a slideway on said frame mating with the slideway on said bar, and means on said bar to locate the frame in a predetermined position.

11. A cam grinding apparatus of the kind described, a pivotally mounted rock bar, a rotatable camshaft support on said bar, a rotatable master cam follower, a slideway on said rock bar, and an interchangeable master cam assembly comprising a frame, a master camshaft rotatably mounted on said frame having a plurality of cams thereon, a slideway on said frame mating with the slideway on said bar, means on said bar to locate the frame in a predetermined position, and means to clamp the frame in said predetermined position on the bar.

CARL G. FLYGARE. 

